Product Reviews

Clear 4g Wireless vs. Road Runner/Time Warner Cable Internet

Blake Waddill — Sat, 04 Jun 2011 04:48:46 +0000

Over the last 18 months, I have had the enjoyable experience of using Clear Wireless internet as both my mobile and home internet provider. Last month, I bought a house located in just about the only dead zone in McKinney, Tx. While I was in a contract still with Clear, they waved the cancellation fee since the location I moved to does not have coverage. That was nice.

Since Clear didn’t work, I had to get something, so I got Road Runner Cable internet for $30/month. There are two other upgradeable options, but I chose the 10 Mb/s package because I do not download a large amount of huge files. When I ran the speed test, I was pleased to see that my connection speed was actually must faster than what they claimed. In fact, on a couple of trials, I ended up hitting nearly 18 Mb/s.

Having been on Clear for 18 month, I had forgotten how much faster Cable internet was. I could not play video games online with Clear because my ping put me at such a huge disadvantage. For those of you wondering, Clear is not fast enough for online gaming. With TWC/Road Runner, I had the best ping of anyone on several of the servers I played on, and I’m not even using the best package.

Another interesting thing I noticed was the upload speed was almost the same for both Clear and Cable internet. Unless you’re running a server, upload speed isn’t really a huge deal, but it is worth noting.

Cable Internet Is Clearly Better than Clear for Heavy Home Use

As much as I have been a fan of Clear, I just cannot move away from how much faster a hardline internet connection can be. Compared to DSL, I would still go with Clear. FIOS and U-Verse are both very fast, but you have to shell out some cash to get them. Cable internet is without a doubt the best value of speed vs. price. If you regularly download files that are 50 MB+, you play online games, or you like to stream movies and videos online, I strongly recommend considering Cable internet over Clear 4g Wireless internet.

Clear Is Excellent Mobile Internet and Still Beats DSL for Home Use

For home use, Clear is just as fast as most of the base packages for DSL. You’ve got to start spending more money on DSL to beat Clear’s speed, so Clear is both cost effective and mobile. From a mobile standpoint, the coverage for Clear seems to be growing. I’ve noticed less dead spots throughout DFW; although there are still plenty of places Clear doesn’t work (like my new house!). If you aren’t home a whole lot or you mostly just browse the internet (i.e. Facebook, Twitter, read a few blogs, etc..), then Clear 4g Internet is an excellent option.

Overall, I’ve been happy with my experience with Clear. The speed has been sufficient for my use and the cost has been extremely fair. Don’t be afraid to use Clear as your only home internet, but also realize that if you need some serious download speed, Clear isn’t the answer.

As always, if you have any questions or thoughts about Clear, leave a comment. I’ve had a bunch of questions e-mailed to me, and I’m sure a lot of people have those same questions.

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400 Online Marketing, SEO, and Social Media Must Read Lists

Blake Waddill — Fri, 25 Feb 2011 02:30:27 +0000

Lists have always been one of the best ways to communicate information. They are also awesome retweet, link, and bookmark bait!

For about 6 weeks I was putting together a list of lists. I still have a bunch of lists that I never added because I just ran out of time to get this put together. Since this post has been in my draft bin for over a year now, I’ve decided to publish it as is. Enjoy!

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Clear 4G Wireless Internet Review After One Year

Blake Waddill — Mon, 03 Jan 2011 04:31:35 +0000

It’s been a little more than a year since I signed up for Clear Wireless Internet. When I first started using Clear, I was constantly on the road with my laptop, Starbucks and McDonald’s didn’t have free internet for everyone, and I didn’t have a smart phone to use while out and about (I actually did have a Blackberry Curve, but compared to iPhone/Android the internet browsing is terrible).

When I first started using Clear 4G Internet, I absolutely loved it. You can read my initial Clear Wireless Internet review. Since my needs have changed, and I am not traveling all over Dallas and Fort Worth using Clear 4G Internet, my tune has changed quite a bit. Leah has always hated Clear because the when we were on the road, the connection kept dropping. I understand that they now have a plan that offers 4g+3g, but it is a little more expensive (still much more cost effective than Verizon). If I were a road warrior again, I would absolutely use that combo setup.

Since Clear Internet has been putting up new towers everywhere and making advancements, I figured it was time to reevaluate what I think about clear.

Clear Wireless Internet Is Great For Road Warriors

With the 4g+3g combo pack, the annoying dead spot that used to light my wife up are not handled by the 3g coverage. The 4g is clearly faster than other mobile internet except Verizon (which is pricey if you’re using it a lot) and the 3g works in a bind. If you’re always on the road using your laptop or netbook, Clear Internet is an excellent option.

Clear Internet Is Not An Ideal Home Internet Option

While visiting my mom over the Christmas holiday, I realized how much I miss FIOS. Wired internet is just way faster and more consistent. To write this article, I hit up Speedtest to see if Clear’s claims of 3-6Mbps with bursts of 10+Mbps was accurate. First test, 5+Mbps with a 1Mbps upload. I ran about 15 tests using the USB. Then my wife started running tests using the desktop and the home unit.

We were seriously disappointed. She was getting speeds between 1-3Mbps, and I was getting 2-4Mbps with bursts of 5Mbps! The upload speed was 1Mbps almost every single time. After the disappointing results, it made me realize something: I’d rather spend my money on a FIOS, Cable, or maybe DSL connection and get an Android phone for mobile internet use. With Starbucks, McDonald’s, and a dozen other places offering free internet, Clear just isn’t necessary for most people.

**Speed update: Ran new Speedtests this morning. The USB card hit as high as 6.79Mbps which I’m very pleased with. Never saw bursts over 7Mbps. The lack of consistency is my primary issue with Clear.

For home use, it is too slow for consistently using VOIP or for playing video games online. It also bogs down if you have too many family members using the same Clear internet connect. At the end of the day, I’m still happy that I’ve had Clear 4g Wireless Internet for the last year. It is extremely cost effective and fast enough for the majority of online activities, but if they aren’t able to work out the consistency issues (which is tricky for all wireless applications, not just Clear), I’ll probably at least get a home internet line even if I keep my Clear 4g Wireless Internet connect.

Image Credit: Clear Wireless Internet News

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8 Ways Blogging is Like Playing World of Warcraft

Blake Waddill — Sun, 05 Sep 2010 02:45:52 +0000

Anyone who has played World Of Warcraft before knows about the stigmas: No social life, no social skills, Living in a fantasy world, 100% pure addiction. If you haven’t played, you may have even thought those things about WOW players. While I don’t play anymore, I can verify that not all those are true (usually).

Shockingly, there are actually a lot of similarities between blogging/social media/make money online and World of Warcraft.

1. People you’ve never met in person are some of your best friends

WOW players of often teased for calling someone they regularly play with and talk to their friend. How you really be friends with someone you’ve never met face to face?

Similarly, most bloggers will never meet most of the people they interact with on a daily basis in person. As bloggers, over time we share much of our personal experiences and personality with our readers. We regularly have discussions via comments, Twitter, Facebook, or other messaging services.

This sharing causes us to bond with our reader or the authors of the blogs we read. Darren Rowse was once jumped on by a woman who had never left a comment on his blog, but had been reading for years. (It’s really not a creepy as it sounds)

2. Learning About It Is Addictive

When players first start into WOW, it is uncharted territory. Each quest, location, and skill is excited. The more you play, the more your eyes open up to the possibilities and the more you want to learn and get better. Once a player gets past the initial learning curve, they can get totally caught up in reading about the game and even forget to play at time.

Learning about blogging is highly addictive too. At first it is a little scary setting up hosting, picking a theme, finding plugins, and starting to write content. Once you’ve settled into your first blog and start writing content, you really start to see how huge the possibilities are. It’s easy to start reading tips from all the experts on how to get better and forget to spend time writing for yourself.

3. Stats are addictive, but useless without purpose

World of Warcraft players are notorious for obsessing over stats and achievements. Who has the most Attack Power or Spell Damage or who can do the most Damage Per Second? When it comes down to it, unless you can utilize those powers for a single purpose (often with other teammates), they don’t do you any good.

What blogger hasn’t checked her stats 5 times in an hour or checked his Twitter to see how many new retweets he has received? It’s great to see big traffic numbers, but without a game plan on how to monetize them, they don’t help you reach your end goal.

4. You can spend countless hours tweeking your plugins and addons

One of the best features Blizzard included in World of Warcraft is the ability to greatly customize your HUD (your viewable screen). Programmers have come up with hundreds of thousands of addons and plugins to change the appearance for both functional and cosmetic reasons. Many players will spend dozens of hours optimizing their display to fit their desires.

The same is also true of blogs. As bloggers, we have thousands of both free and premium themes to choose from, each with an endless supply of new plugins. Some plugins are for cosmetics, others functional, but all personal preference. It is easy to spend hundreds of hours customizing and optimizing your blog appearance for bests results. It’s also easy to accidentally put too much on the screen at once. Information overload INC!

5. It doesn’t make sense to people who are not involved

There is almost always something to be done playing WOW whether it is raiding dungeons with 25 other players or fighting in the arena against other players around the world. It’s almost impossible for someone who doesn’t play WOW to understand the draw to play all the time.

With reading other blogs, commenting, sharing on social media, building a following, and tweeting to your heart’s content all “needing” to be done, loved ones will also question why and how bloggers spend so much time working on their blog (especially if you aren’t making any money doing it yet).

6. There is money to be made, but only for the top fraction of a percent

Most people don’t realize there are sponsored tournaments for World of Warcraft where the winners split as much as $75,000 for first place. While it might not be a legitimate living in the Americas and Europe, Korea has several sponsored teams that are paid a salary to play.

Unless you are active in the Make Money Online community or you’ve seen a special on 60 Minutes, it is very possible that you didn’t even know you could make money blogging. Many people who hear about it try to make money blogging, but most people never make a penny, few people break even, and only the smallest percent can make a living online.

7. It is fun being good and famous

Something weird happens when you start doing well in WOW. Everyone wants to be your friend, help you out, ask for help, or really just talk to you for a nanosecond. On your server you can become efamous as the player with the best gear, best ratings, or being in the best guild. It’s amazingly fun and satisfying knowing that almost everyone wishes they were you (in game at least).

I can’t think of many things more fun than making money blogging/marking online. Professional sports is probably the only line of work that could rival the fun potential (although sales and bartending each have their own aspects). Like when a player first gets that amazing piece of gear, a blogger is in ecstasy the first time his or her post goes viral or getting that first affiliate check.

8. Despite the enormous size of the community, everyone at the top knows each other

In World of Warcraft, it is almost impossible to be at the top before people start noticing you. Other players might check out your gear or spec to try to figure out how you are successful and mimic it. Other top players will start introducing themselves to you and either talk (usually) friendly trash or offer to team up with you. In WOW if you make the SK-100, the listing of the top 100 rated arena (pvp) players in the world, you’re practically stalked by other players.

Bloggers also ban together. Chris Brogan, Copyblogger, and Problogger can often be found collaborating at conferences (hanging out in their underwear), guest posting, cross referencing each other, and sharing data. Guys like Shoemoney and John Chow also regularly chat and share tips and trick they’ve picked up along the way. Even in niches that aren’t as big as MMO, the top bloggers on the scene are known by more than just their followers.

At the end of the day, both can be a giant waste of time, but if they offer entertainment and happiness, that’s really what matters. While more socially acceptable, blogging is more like World of Warcarft than you might think. Honestly, I started writing this article back in March as a guest post for Daily Blog Tips, and ended up getting sidetrack. I’ve finally realized that I probably won’t ever finish it for DBT, so here it is, unedited and in all it’s ugly glory! Please share! <3

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Digital TV for PC 2 Product Review

Blake Waddill — Sat, 12 Jun 2010 16:07:43 +0000

While looking through a few of my affiliate networks for offers to promote, I kept running across one offer that I kept dying to try. I finally bit the bullet and bought Digital TV for PC 2 (affiliate link). Promises of 2000 channels including ESPN, CNN, Speed, Comedy Central, HBO, etc.. for only $29 (one time charge) seemed too good to be true.

I absolutely love Digital TV for PC for watching old episodes of nearly any show you can think of. I got to watch the entire Season 3 of “Next Design Star” (I’m married, and I like decking out our house, don’t judge me!) and Southpark.

You’ll be able to find Seasons of shows like House, The Office, Desperate Housewives, and all your other favorite shows. They also provide easy access to a variety of movies available On Demand online.

My only major complaint is live TV. I’ve had a difficult time finding many live TV channels that weren’t “Off-Air.” Disney, HBO, and Cartoon Network all seemed to work okay, but I couldn’t get anything for ESPN, CNN, History, or Speed.

My only minor annoyance is the video size. You have the choice of YouTube size viewing area or full screen. The full screen can get a little choppy at times, but it’s not a deal breaker for me.

There are also a couple of additional addons you can purchase for more channels and OnDemand. I did not take those offers, so I don’t know if that will help my experience.

Overall, Digital TV for PC is (update: NOT) a good product for $29. I would not recommend buying it if you’re only interested in watching the latest live TV; however, if you just watch to watch your favorite shows at anytime, the OnDemand database is an excellent resource and absolutely worth every penny.

Digital TV for PC 2 Review UPDATE:

Since I originally wrote this article, Hulu has dramatically expanded the number of shows available online. At this point, Digital TV for PC 2 is a rip-off, scam, and totally bogus. Hulu offers most of the same content for free. Hulu does offer a paid version called Hulu Plus. Hulu Plus offers a few more shows; however, the best feature of Hulu Plus is being able to access Hulu from a mobile device (iphone, ipad, and most android). At $8/month, Hulu has replaced cable/direct TV for me. Grab a FREE Hulu Plus! 1-week Trial and to see if it’s right for you. It was for me!

Disclaimer: I am an affiliate for Digital TV for PC and Hulu Plus! and will receive a small cut of the commission if you buy the product using my link. I have done my best to give the most unbiased review possible of this product to help you make an educated purchasing decision. I do actually have a subscription to Hulu Plus! and use it daily.

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Clear 4g Wireless Internet Dallas/Fort Worth Coverage Review

Blake Waddill — Sun, 16 May 2010 20:25:16 +0000

In March I did a short review covering Clear 4g Wireless Internet which covers the speed, pricing, and general coverage. Since then, I’ve had a lot of time to test Clear all over the DFW to see how much of the metroplex is covered.

North Dallas Suburbs (Mckinney, Frisco, Plano, Addison, Richardson, Carrollton, etc)

The whole North Dallas area is very well covered. I live in Mckinney just a couple of miles south of 380 and always have excellent coverage at my house. Driving south toward Dallas, everywhere between 380 to downtown Dallas and I-35 E and and 75 is covered with no noticeable dead spots.

Overall: Excellent Coverage

East Dallas (Garland, Mesquite, Rockwall, Rowlett, etc…)

I haven’t had a chance to test Clear as thoroughly in East Dallas as some other areas. So far I haven’t had any major problems with Garland or Mesquite, but I have had absolutely no luck in Rockwall. I think the coverage dropped off dramatically once you cross the lake on I-30.

Overall: Poor coverage

South DFW (Grand Prairie, Arlington, Desoto, Cedar Hill, etc…)

I’ve spent a ton of time all over Arlington and Grand Prairie using Clear and only had a few problems problems. I did notice that right next to Ranger Stadium (the Ballpark in Arlington) the coverage sometimes goes in and out. Just driving to the back of the parking lot fixed that problem right away.

Overall: Good coverage

Northwest of DFW Airport (Grapevine, Coppell, Lewisville, Southlake, Colleyville, Irving, etc..)

South and East of the airport, Clear coverage is excellent. Anytime I try to connect in Coppell or Irving I’ve had no problems. Headed out West and Northwest, I’ve had a lot of problems. Almost anywhere on 114 North/West of the 121/114 split, there is no coverage. Grapevine, Southlake, Colleyville, and Trophy Club all have no service in my experience.

Interestingly enough, I get no coverage on the East side of I-35 W at 114, but anywhere in the Texas Motorspeedway parking lot I get full coverage. It’s crazy how much that extra half mile changes the signal.

Overall: Poor Coverage

Fort Worth (Bedford, Euless)

In downtown Fort Worth and south Fort Worth near TCU I have had excellent coverage. Heading south on 820 I have also experienced excellent coverage as far south as I-20.

Overall: Excellent Coverage

I have noticed there are a lot of areas that only get 1 bar. It will let you start to connect, but disconnect you before everything is verified. A lot of times, just changing the direction your modem is facing or moving 10 yards can make the difference between 1 bar and 5 bars.

I’m not sure how many new towers are schedule to go live soon. My experience with Clear so far has been pretty good. Since I have inlaws that live off 114 Northwest of the airport, I sometimes get frustrated with the lack of coverage in that area. My wife and I’s best friends live in Rockwall, so not having coverage out there is pretty frustrating too.

Overall, most of the metroplex is very well covered. Dallas, Fort Worth, and almost all directly connect suburbs have great coverage. I’ll try to do some more testing in the North and East Fort Worth areas (Keller, North Richland Hills, etc..). I’ll also try to hit up some of the further south areas like Mansfield soon.

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Why John Chow Will Always Win Referral Contests

Blake Waddill — Thu, 15 Apr 2010 17:44:56 +0000

Without a doubt, one of the best ways to launch a product (free or paid) is to offer a referral contest. Recently, Jonathan Volk ran a month long contest for 3 iPads; the top two refers and one person at random would get iPads.

After a couple of weeks, John Chow was so far ahead of everyone else that Jony issued a specific contest to see if anyone could challenge John Chow for the most referrals. John Chow proceeded to beat himself with no one else even close. The second place guy was Shoemoney just for the record.

There are a couple of very specific reasons John Chow will always win referral contests. In no particular order:

1. John Chow has followers that convert and take actions

Many people have tons of followers. Some have e-mail lists several times larger than John, but John’s readers convert. In order to win these contests, you need a following that listens to you and trusts you. About half a year back, John unfollowed everyone on his twitter account (nearly 60,000 people). In the process he lost about 10,000 followers, but now the people who are following him are legit followers who click and convert.

2. John Chow bribes his readers (and his bribes are usually pretty sick)

John can go buy an iPad with what he makes in an hour; it isn’t about the prize, it’s about the pride of winning. Instead of keeping the prizes for himself he offers to give the prize to one of his readers if he wins.

Even when there isn’t a contest, John offers another ridiculously huge perk to buying from him: free review/ad space. On more than one occasion, as an incentive for buying from him, John will give the buyer a free review or ad space on his site. From a CPC standpoint, many of the products are worth buying just for the “free” review. Furthermore, John’s traffic converts, so it’s better than random AdSense traffic even if the CPC is the same.

3. John is blunt about his motives and disclosure

The top to referrers in Jony Volk’s contest had one very similar trait: they don’t pull punches, and they tell you what they are doing. They don’t care if they offend you or make you mad (that weeds out the bad leads and freeloaders). Both John Chow and Shoemoney tell you to leave if you’re offended being asked to things for them. Just another reason John Chow’s traffic converts.

4. The sites with a big enough reader base don’t participate

In order to beat John Chow, you would need a massive traffic advantage over him. Blogs like Problogger (which still might not have enough traffic), Mashable, Lifehacker, Tech Crunch, MakeUseOf, Smashing, etc.. don’t tend to make their money from affiliate referral programs like John Chow. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not saying they don’t sell things or make money from affiliate deals, but I couldn’t imagine seeing any of those sites participating in a referral contests.

Also, most of those sites have multiple contributors. I don’t think splitting an iPad six ways would work very well. Maybe each author could use it every 6th week?

John Chow Owns Referral Period

When it comes down to it, John Chow has readers that convert and more to bribe readers with. If I can get a $500+ value (a review on JC’s webpage plus a JC tweet promoting the article) for buying a $500 product that kicks ass anyway, guess whose referral link I’m clicking?

The biggest downside for the contest host to this is many people may be discouraged by John’s tight grip on the referral competition. One way to make it more fair is to offer multiple winners and/or random winners. Another good option is to give John Chow a handicap. Maybe if John had to send over 4 times as many referrals, others might have a chance at winning.

Is anyone up to the challenge to beating John Chow?

Image Credit: Image was taken from JC’s About page.

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FREE! Affiliate Marketing Guide by Super Affiliate Jonathan Volk (Product Review)

Blake Waddill — Tue, 16 Mar 2010 22:03:34 +0000

Affiliate marketing seems to be the hottest thing going in the Make Money Online niche these days. With all the PPC, PPV, ROI acronyms floating around and so much assumed knowledge, it’s hard to really get a strong idea of where to start and how.

Many of the “Super Affiliates” around the web have blogs keeping tabs on their success and giving out little half-useful tips on how to be successful in the affiliate marketing world; however, few give step by step directions on how to get moving (you usually have to pay $97 for that!).

Enter Super Affiliate Jonathan Volk. Unlike many of the super “baller” affiliates, Jony isn’t just in the game to make money for his Ferrari’s and mansions; instead he’s serious about helping others to be successful. His faith filled and ethical perspective is refreshing in a niche full of scam artist and virtual thieves.

Jony’s Affiliate Marketing Guide is divided into 17 clearly defined sections which makes for an awesome straight through read or a fast reference guide. The original version of the guide was written to be read entirely online (which kicks tooshie for those of us who like to read on our phones, but don’t have an app to read PDFs). It also makes it easy to navigate to any section via the table of contents. A PDF version was also released, but I still recommend reading it online.

This guide covers affiliate marketing in a simple to understand way that even a complete tech newbie with no affiliate marketing knowledge can grasp. While most guides that cover a topic in such depth can be extremely boring for advanced users, Jony does a great job delivering his message with brevity.

Affiliate Marketing Basics

The first 8 sections cover the basic ideas of what affiliate marketing is and how to get setup. He mentions everything from how to get plugged in to an affiliate network to setting up a domain and hosting (if necessary). He even designates the importance of domain name choice depending on the type of marketing you plan to do.

Design of Affiliate Marketing

Sections 9 through 11 start to turn the focus more toward the more technical side of affiliate marketing including PHP redirects, landing pages, and stat tracking. While these sections are no where near comprehensive, they are sufficient for understanding the importance and purpose of each critical part.

Affiliate Marketing Channels

Perhaps the most useful information comes in sections 12 through 15. Jony details how to setup Social Media, Pay Per View (PPV), Pay Per Click (PPC), and Media Buying campaigns. Each section covers one of the marketing styles mentioned above with details on: landing page requirement, effective offer types, ideas for effective marketing, and much more.

The final two sections bring the guide to a close by mentioning the most important advice of all: this is a trial and error learning process. Making money affiliate marketing is not a simple walk in the park, and it requires time, patience, and attention to detail to be successful. The biggest way to lose is to give up before you really let things play out.

Free PPV Webinar With Corey Bornmann and David Ford

Finally, a FREE bonus to the already amazing free ebook is a 90+ minute webinar with the creators of AffPortal. These guys give some juicy tips and step by step information on how to setup killer PPV campaigns. While they do plug their product in the demo, it is completely justified with the amazing step by step demo they give for free.

I’ve read a ton of free reports, ebooks, and watched a bunch of free videos. These two are without a doubt the two I wish I had come across first. If you don’t read another single free ebook for the rest of the year, please make sure you check out Jony Volk’s Affiliate Marketing Guide. You won’t regret it!

Photo Credit: emrank

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Clear 4G “Super Fast Mobile Internet™” Review – Is It Time To Go Mobile?

Blake Waddill — Tue, 09 Mar 2010 06:01:32 +0000

If you’re anything like me, you’re always on the move. I somehow manage to drive nearly 2000 miles every month only traveling in the DFW metroplex. When you are on the road that much, it’s not always easy to find a place with free WiFi.

Sure, you can stop at Starbucks or fast food chains which are increasingly starting to have free WiFi, but they aren’t always convenient. Even then, many of these places don’t have power outlets, so you end up getting stuck with a dead laptop (you have a converter for your car, right?).

Finally, there are times my wife needs to check things online while we are driving from one place to another, and it is really nice not having to stop for her to use the internet.

Enter Clear, the high speed 4G mobile network. Clear is backed by a several big companies you might have heard of like Google and Sprint. If you live in an area where Clear has coverage, you’ve probably seen dozens of billboards and commercials promoting the product.

Clear claims that you can stream movies, music, and play video games on their 4G network without any hiccups, so I decided to give Clear a try. You can get an USB card or a standard home based modem or both for $55/month. I opted to get both since I travel a lot, but also have a home network that my family uses.

Clear 4G Speed

So far, I’m pretty happy with Clear’s speed. I’ve found the USB modem tends to be faster overall, but the difference between the home modem and the USB card is pretty slim.

For regular browsing, I have no complaints about the speed. I don’t really notice the difference between Clear and the Road Runner/TWC internet I had before. Streaming video also works very well.

I am sorely disappointed with gaming speed though. I haven’t suffered a whole lot of packet loss, but my ping is never under 100 ms. I feel like I’m always at a serious disadvantage anytime I try playing games online, so I would not recommend relying on Clear if you’re focused on gaming. Occasionally, I get disconnected, but I can always get reconnected without significant wait.

Overall, I’d give Clear a “B” for speed. It’s fast enough to use as your exclusive home internet and faster than any other mobile internet. As long as you’re not gaming, Clear should be fine.

Clear Coverage in Dallas

With Clear just starting, many new towers are going up on what seems like a daily basis. I live in the northeast area of the DFW metroplex (Mckinney for those of you that know the area). Driving around, I have found a couple of random dead spots that disconnect me. Also, there are some areas northwest DFW (near Texas Motor Speedway in Fort Worth) were I would like them to add coverage.

Edit: I’m out near Texas Motor Speedway today, and I was able to get coverage for the first time out here. The speed is slower than most other areas that are covered, but it does work! I’m stoked!

Overall, there are very few holes in the coverage, and it’s very nice being able to download videos or stream music while driving. I would give Clear an “A-” in the DFW area for coverage.

I can’t speak for the other areas, but if you live in Portland, Seattle, Leas Vegas, Hawaii, Atlanta, Chicago, Philly, Charlotte, Raleigh, or pretty much anywhere in Texas, you should strongly consider giving Clear a try. The network is only going to expand and get faster.

Pricing

Clear is the most affordable mobile internet option I have found. You can get one device for $30/month, two for $55/month or three for $75 per month. You can mix and match between home, mobile and voice. Personally, having 1 home device hooked up through a wireless router and 2 mobile WiMax cards is perfect.

My only complaint at this point is that they don’t have any affiliate offers because I would promote the heck out of it!

Leave a comment if you have any questions about Clear.

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Product Reviews

Clear 4g Wireless vs. Road Runner/Time Warner Cable Internet

Cable Internet Is Clearly Better than Clear for Heavy Home Use

Clear Is Excellent Mobile Internet and Still Beats DSL for Home Use

400 Online Marketing, SEO, and Social Media Must Read Lists

Affiliate Marketing

Business

Comments

Content

Design/Development

How To Blog

Influence

Link Building

Make Money Blogging/online

Marketing

Misc

Plugins/Wordpress

Sales/Copywriting

SEO

SEM

Social Media

Themes

Traffic

Trust/Credibility

Twitter

Best Of

Clear 4G Wireless Internet Review After One Year

Clear Wireless Internet Is Great For Road Warriors

Clear Internet Is Not An Ideal Home Internet Option

8 Ways Blogging is Like Playing World of Warcraft

1. People you’ve never met in person are some of your best friends

2. Learning About It Is Addictive

3. Stats are addictive, but useless without purpose

4. You can spend countless hours tweeking your plugins and addons

5. It doesn’t make sense to people who are not involved

6. There is money to be made, but only for the top fraction of a percent

7. It is fun being good and famous

8. Despite the enormous size of the community, everyone at the top knows each other

Digital TV for PC 2 Product Review

Digital TV for PC 2 Review UPDATE:

Clear 4g Wireless Internet Dallas/Fort Worth Coverage Review

North Dallas Suburbs (Mckinney, Frisco, Plano, Addison, Richardson, Carrollton, etc)

East Dallas (Garland, Mesquite, Rockwall, Rowlett, etc…)

South DFW (Grand Prairie, Arlington, Desoto, Cedar Hill, etc…)

Northwest of DFW Airport (Grapevine, Coppell, Lewisville, Southlake, Colleyville, Irving, etc..)

Fort Worth (Bedford, Euless)

Why John Chow Will Always Win Referral Contests

1. John Chow has followers that convert and take actions

2. John Chow bribes his readers (and his bribes are usually pretty sick)

3. John is blunt about his motives and disclosure

4. The sites with a big enough reader base don’t participate

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